Get To Know This Tampa Bay Olympian

There is a Tampa Bay Olympian that we would like you to know about. The summer Olympics will be in Paris starting up on Friday, July 26. Tampa Bay's Parker Valby will be participating in events at the summer Olympics this year. Parker Valby is from Tampa Bay and attended East Lake High School in Tarpon Springs. She additionally went to the University of Florida where she was a track star for the Gators. She got five national championships during her time during the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Now she will be a Tampa Bay Olympian representing the United States in Paris this summer. She will be running in the 10,000 meters and also the 5000 meters. Parker’s dad, Kyle, told ABC Action News, "Whether it’s growing up in Tampa Bay, whether it’s going to school in the state of Florida, whether it’s representing the United States of America. Parker’s up to the task. She continues to drive and use her discipline to achieve the greatness that she has."

14 Tampa Bay athletes will be participating in the summer Olympics in Paris this summer. Including Clearwater's Bobby Finke, who won two gold medals in the 2020 Olympics. Additionally, there is Nelly Korda, who calls Bradenton home. She won a gold medal in golf at the 2020 Olympics.

The Paris Olympics will get started on Friday, July 26 and will end on August 11. This is the third time the city of Paris is hosting the Olympics. New sports this year include skateboarding, surfing, sport climbing, and breaking. There is an interesting event happening this year where athletes will be swimming in the Seine River. Paris is trying to show their commitment to water quality improvement and that is the reason for that event.

The 2024 Paris Olympic games are quickly approaching. So we're gathering a list of athletes from the Tampa Bay area to watch out for as they compete for gold medals.

It's always an amazing opportunity and honor to represent your country and hometown in the Olympics. These athletes have worked hard their entire lives for this moment, so the least we could do is show our hometown competitors some love. The 2024 Paris Olympics will take place from July 26-August 11 and will be available to watch or stream on NBC.

Obviously a lot of eyes will be on some of the Olympic superstars like Simone Biles, Sha'Carri Richardson, Katie Ledecky, and more. There are 46 athletes from Florida confirmed to be competing in the 2024 Olympics. Only 1 state has more athletes being sent over to Paris (California with 143) but we'll be keeping our eyes on these 13 athletes from the Tampa Bay area. Only 2 states don't have any athletes representing for the Olympics: North Dakota, and Wyoming.

If you want to keep tabs on who's qualified for each Olympic event, click here. As the Olympics take place, we'll update our list with the result of each athlete's performance.

From Sarasota, FL. This is Clark's second Olympic appearance on the USA rowing team at only 24 years old.  In 2020 his team placed 5th in the Men's rowing category. Hopefully he'll bring home a medal this year!

Bobby will be competing in the swim competition. This is also his second appearance in the Olympics. Bobby is from Clearwater, FL and is a UF alumni. He is already a two-tie Olympic medalist (2 golds, 800-meter freestyle, 1500-meter freestyle). 

This will be Noah's first Olympic appearance. He's competing in the sailing competition. Noah is also from Clearwater, FL and graduated from USF with a degree in Microbiology. Noah has been sailing since he was 6 years old and won 1st in the US National Championship in 2023.  

Tracy will be competing in the Paralympics this summer in the Para Archery competition. Tracy is from Plant City and is a UT alumni. She discovered Para archery after surviving a life-threatening domestic violence attack, which caused the loss of her left eye and paralysis from the chest-down. Tracy qualified for Paralympic Games in May.

Mary is a 22 year old from Sarasota. She will be heading to Paris for her second Olympics this year. In 2020 she took home a silver medal (10m Air Rifle - Team). Mary was once referred to as the “rebel child” of shooting, she quit her high school team and learned to teach herself via YouTube videos and online resources. 

Dania is a world champion shooter but will be competing in her first Olympic competition this summer. She's a 29 year old from Tampa and a UF '17 alumni. Her nickname "Shooterina" is accurate after her seeing impressive world champion record (she's won 6 gold and 2 silver medals). 

Emma Weyant will be competing in the swimming races this summer. She brought home a silver medal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (400m Individual Medley ). Emma is from Sarasota, she's a UF alumni, and is a four-time scholar athlete. 

Danielle is from St. Pete! She will be competing in the tennis games. She was a 2022 Australian Open Finalist, and 2022 French Open Quarterfinalist.

Nathan is from Oldsmar and will be on the USA soccer team!

This will be Erriyon Knighton's second time competing in the Olympics. He finished 4th in 200m race in the 2020 Tokyo games. He also beat Usain Bolt’srecord in the world U-20 in the 200-meter. Erriyon is from Tampa and is only 20 years old!

Nelly Korda is another fellow 2020 Olympian. The Bradenton native will be competing in the golf competition. Nelly won gold in the 2020 Tokyo games so hopefully she bring another gold medal home!

Austin Krajicek is from Brandon and trained at the IMG academy! This is his second Olympic appearance and will be competing in the tennis competition!

Parker Valby is from Tampa and went to East Lake High School. This will be her first time competing in the Olympics!

This will be Monae's first Olympic appearance! The Lakeland native will be competing in the track and field competition!